In spite of large grants from outside agencies such as the World Bank for improved services in mental health in Palestine, the recent Israeli assault on Gaza and other factors have had a negative impact so that there is now a massive perceived need, particularly in children and adolescents. During a recent lecture tour to South Africa, Professor Colin Green met child psychiatrist Dr Astrid Berg who is deeply sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and has already established good relations with Dr Tawfiq Salman, a child psychiatrist in the Bethlehem SOS children’s village for orphaned children. Through Astrids’ good offices, IMET 2000 was asked to administer a substantial grant from a single generous South African donor to support child psychosocial services in the West Bank and Gaza This it is doing, partly by supporting a new Palestinian Association for Child and Adolescence Mental Health (PACAMH) and its programme of mental health education in schools, and partly by supporting the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme whose HQ was severely damaged in January 2009.
As a result of talks with experts in both these organizations, IMET 2000-Pal is now exploring ways of collaborating with them and building multidisciplinary teams comprising child psychologist such as Dr Taiseer Abdalla, child psychiatrists such as Dr Samah Jabr and Dr Tawfiq Salman, as well as social workers and school teachers to provide a comprehensive and sustainable service throughout the Occupied Territories. Many UK and other European (particularly French) experts are eager to help by visiting Palestine for workshops, conferences and working in clinics alongside Palestinian colleagues. IMET 2000-Pal could well facilitate working exchanges as well as distance and e-learning courses in such disciplines as behavioural cognitive therapy. It is also exploring funding of child psychiatric clinics and walk-in drug addiction clinics. If, as seems likely, IMET 2000-Pal does become involved in a sustainable 3-5 year programme, then it needs to raise substantial funding and develop a focused programme avoiding the pitfalls which have dogged several other initiatives in this field.
